Ulster into semis as Best & Cave make final home appearances

Rory Best captained Ulster to a 21-13 win over Connacht in the PRO14 quarter final as he made his final appearance at Kingspan.

Long-serving center Darren Cave also came off the bench for his final run-out in front of the home crowd, with both players retiring from club rugby at the end of the season.

Ulster's narrow, decisive victory means their campaign will continue into the PRO14 semi-finals, and a trip to Glasgow.

In a tense, typically close interpro clash, it was an early John Cooney penalty that gave Ulster the lead, before the opening try in the 15th minute.

Some slick offloading released Nick Timoney down the left, and the back-rower was able to step inside his defender and dive over in the corner, with Cooney converting.

The visitors notched their first points of the afternoon when Ulster conceded a penalty in their own 22 after Connacht broke on the counter.

Jack Carty stepped up to easily split the posts to make it 8-3 on the half hour mark.

A busy 10 minutes followed, with Cooney slotting another penalty on the stroke of half time for the home side.

However, it was 10 minutes into the second half that Connacht hit back with their first try.

Some poor Ulster tackling allowed the visitors to carve through midfield, with Bundee Aki left clear to race in unopposed from the 22.

Just after the hour, another Cooney penalty put Ulster into a 14-10 lead, but Carty brought the difference back to a point with a penalty in the 68th minute.

Connacht were then forced into almost endless phases of defence, but they finally buckled 3 minutes from time.

Marcell Coetzee bulldozed over from close range to finally breach the resilient defence of the visitors, and make sure Ulster reached the semi finals